Tidy Cat Hopes Apology Buries Stink Over Billboard

Ad Rubs OTR Residents Wrong Way

UPDATED 9:41 AM EDT Apr 09, 2012

CINCINNATI -

Tidy Cat's billboard campaign for its cat litter rubbed some the wrong way in Cincinnati.

The NoMorePU.com ad campaign used the billboards to mention things in life that "stink," saying on its website, "Share what stinks in your life. We can?t guarantee a life without stink, but we do guarantee our litter!"

The problem arose after a billboard went up in Cincinnati that read "You're so over Over-the-Rhine," followed by the hashtag #lifestinks.

"Really, we feel degraded by it, for the simple fact that we're trying to make it better down here, and we know that other people are trying to make it better down here," resident James Cook said. "And they are. They're developing a lot of things down here, and it is becoming better."

"That's messed up, man, because we be living. We have nice times down here, you know? We might not be the best people there is down here, but we're surviving," Keneth Hunter said.

Tidy Cat's maker, Purina, issued an apology on Twitter over the weekend that said "We're sorry. Our billboard was meant to be humorous, but to many of you it wasn't. We'll take fast action to correct this."

By Thursday night, the billboard had been covered up with an advertisement promoting pet adoption.